Saturday, June 27, 2009,
10:34 PM
Prelim 2s are over. I really don't wanna think about a paper that has already ended since it'd affect my performance and thoughts during the exam week, but now that's it's over....Gah :X
I think the worst paper was E math. Seriously, I didn't think elementary math will result in like 5 questions half answered D: Bye bye to A. Ironically, Amath was slightly easier (well, easier than expected) but I'm very scared I don't get an A or a high B for it, because...
On the way to school on Thursday, I met Mrs. Anna Tan crossing my path with her daughter going towards J8.
Mrs. Tan: Benedict! Do well for your maths paper okay?
Me: *cringe* Um, okay..
Mrs. Tan: Must get your A okay!
Me: *forced smile* Yes, yes I will.
Oh NOO I'm very, very scared to let her down now for my maths papers (both maths!). It's a very nasty feeling to let down someone who have worked so hard to help you. Oh no oh no please let me get at least high Bs to pull up to A by Prelim 3 D:
Out of all the papers, I'm most confident in the Chem paper and Elective Lit. Chem cause I could understand most of the paper (please grant me an A this time so no one can say I suck in every subject again) and because I found the Literature paper very fun :D
The question was based on Atticus' quote: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view --- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it," and I was supposed to write on 3 characters in the novel who demonstrated the wisdom of the quote. So I chose Mr. Dolphus Raymond (of course!), Arthur Radley and Mrs. Dubose. And spammed quotes, as usual.
Speaking of quotes, there are a heck lot of wonderful, memorable quotes from the sci-fi movie I've been dying to watch after Prelim 2: Equlibrium
(It takes alot to get me crazy for something. And when I do go crazy over something...heh :X)
A quick synopsis of the plot which got me craving for it:
In the 21st century after the World War III, mankind knew that it would not be able to pull through another war as such. Thus, the world leaders sought to create a world free of conflict. They decided that human emotions is the root cause of all conflict (with rage, anger, wrath, jealousy etc.) and thus a society, Libra, is form where feeling emotions and being in possession of objects that may invoke emotion (e.g. literature, art, music) are all banned and warrants incineration, and all citizens had to take "intervals", where they inject themselves with the emotion-suppressing drug Prozium, distributed from a factory named 'Equilibrium'.
The protagonist, Cleric John Preston, is a first-class fighter of the Grammaton Clerics serving the High Council, Clerics forming an elite team equipped with the art of Gun-Kata (fighting with firearms in a deadly manner without getting shot) who's job is to enforce the law in apprehending "Sense Offenders" and eliminating all EC-10 objects (emotional content). He unemotionally watches his wife gets arrested for feeling, committed suicide-by-cop for his partner when he realised he was feeling.
And predictably, he breaks his usual dose of Prozium and is unable to get a replacement. For the first time in his life, the first-class fighter experiences emotions. Then the story continues from there. Not going to spoil it for you if you intend to watch online ;)
Overall rating? 7.6/10
Plot (8/10): Classic plot of someone breaking out of the conformity of life (this time, to the extreme that the Council wanted to create a society of people leading identical lives) and it goes back to the basics, the core of what defines a human being: Ability to feel emotions. Before emotions, Preston felt nothing towards art, no qualms about his wife executed, no hesitation in assasinating his partner. Slowly, the beauty of feelings dawned upon him and he saw a deeper meaning in life. Being a lit student, this of course must be accompanied with quotes:
[Before he experiences emotions, apprehending a 'Sense Offender']
Mary: Let me ask you something.
[Grabs his hand]
Mary: Why are you alive?
Preston: [Breaks free] I'm alive... I live... to safeguard the continuity of this great society. To serve Libria.
Mary: It's circular. You exist to continue your existence. What's the point?
Preston: What's the point of your existence?
Mary: To feel. 'Cause you've never done it, you can never know it. But it's as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock... ticking.
And one of my favorites earlier in the movie:
[When apprehending his partner, Partridge]
Partridge: You always knew.
[begins to read from Yeats]
Partridge: "But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." I assume you dream, Preston.
.
.
.
Preston: I'll do what I can to see they go easy on you.
Partridge: We both know they never "go easy".
Preston: Then, I'm sorry.
Partridge: No, you're not. You don't even know the meaning. Its just a vestigial word for a feeling you've never felt.
Action (7/10): Mainly focusing on the invented form of martial arts: Gun-Kata.
DuPont: The gun katas. Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically predictable element. The gun kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120%. The difference of a 63% increase to lethal proficiency makes the master of the gun katas an adversary not to be taken lightly.
So basically, you shoot, you kill many, but you're safe within the cross-fire. And Preston is a master of this art. Heh heh. Emotionless + Gun-Kata master = perfect fighter.
And when the protagonist was captured:
DuPont: And you, Preston, the supposed savior of the resistance, are now its destroyer, and, along with them, you've given me yourself... calmly... coolly... entirely without incident.
Preston: [Polygraph machine scribbling rapidly] No.
[Polygraph suddenly registers Preston completely in control of emotions]
Polygraph Technician: Oh... Shit.
Preston: Not without incident.
Then he goes on a rampage to blast his way through to the puppeteer of the whole society :D
Another Angle (8/10): The repetition of certain key lines by different characters signifies emphasise. The lines are repeated in different situations or those which mirror exactly what happens before. Such as:
DuPont: Be careful Preston. You're treading on my dreams.
'Treading on my dreams" was read aloud earlier from the book of Yeats. It may not sound original to hear the same lines over, but it does have an impact when placed in different situations, it's like the characters learning from one another (especially Preston learning about emotions).
Furthermore, there are many subtle signs which hold significances: Preston re-arranging his table (showing a sign of dislike against conformity) and him wearing all white while facing foes dressed in all black. Twists and traps keeps the movie from being predictable and at the edge of my chair throughout the movie (and making me extremely jumpy while waiting for Part 4 to load - people who talked to me on MSN last night understands XD)
I loved this movie, I'm going to fan-boy over it for some time and will definitely watch it again next time :D Next up will be on Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen which I just watched today :)
Balthus
A heavy cost, I pay it gladly.Labels: oh wow :O
(It takes alot to get me crazy for something. And when I do go crazy over something...heh :X)
[When apprehending his partner, Partridge]